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‘Somethin’ to Write Home About’ exhibition will open Thursday, Oct. 7, at Regional History Center

September 23, 2010

NIU’s Regional History Center will host a grand opening reception for its exhibit, “Somethin’ to Write Home About: Letters from the Regional History Center Collections,” from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, in Founders Memorial Library.

The exhibit is on display in the library’s foyer with a reception in Room 400. Parking is available in the visitor’s lot west of the library off Carroll Avenue. The event is open to university staff, students and the public.

The exhibit examines the impact of both mundane daily activities and extraordinary historical events on the residents of the northern Illinois Region. The letters date as far back as the 1850s with topics including the military, family life, college life and Northern Illinois University.

Staff of the Regional History Center will be available for questions and tours of the facility during the reception. Light refreshments will be served. The exhibit, which was curated in conjunction with American Archives Month, is open to the public and will be on display until the end of November.

American Archives Month is a collaborative effort by professional organizations and repositories around the nation to highlight the importance of records of enduring value. Archivists are professionals who preserve and provide access to information that has lasting and historical value.

NIU’s Regional History Center is a unique component of the university’s commitment to education, research and public service.

The center’s goal is to acquire, preserve and make available to the public the most significant historical records of the northern Illinois region. The center actively collects historical material from the 18 northernmost counties of Illinois, excluding Cook.

Since 1964, the center has evolved from a small university archive to a multifaceted research center containing three related sets of historical records available to researchers: Regional Collections, University Archives and Local Governmental Records.

Call (815) 753-1779 for more information.